Call Us

713 665-6243

De-clutter and Live Well

The beginning of the year is always a great time to evaluate the “stuff” that’s lying around in our homes. We tend to acquire more items during the holidays and as we are heading into springtime our nesting urges kick in and we start feeling the need to downsize. Here are some fantastic ideas to help get the “less is more” ball rolling!

Birthday rule “get one, toss one” – This is great, especially if you have kids. It’s super easy to accumulate items so with every birthday gift received (adults too), you must get rid of or donate something else. A tit for tat if you will.

Give away 1 item each day for 1 year – Sometimes jumping into a large project like de-cluttering your house, can be a bit overwhelming for some. With this tip you simply pick 1 item a day and either donate it, give it to a friend or colleague or just toss it out. That’s 365 things in 1 year that will be gone from your house for good. That’s quite a lot!

Mark the date – By marking a specific room on a specific date on your calendar, it mentally prepares your brain for the challenge ahead. It is also a great way to systematically knock out the smaller pieces of a much larger puzzle.

Put on a yard sale – This Spring put on a yard sale and make a spot in your garage or another room in your home to store donated items that you can sell at your garage sale. Putting on a garage sale can be a lot of work but if you start on it weeks ahead of time with sorting and tagging, you will be that much farther ahead when the actual date rolls around. Plus, you can put a little extra money in your checking account when the yard sale is over.

Invest in a labeling machine – Putting labels on boxes and containers saves time and keep things organized. This is especially helpful when kids go to put items away. They will know right where to put an item and eliminate any stragglers.

When de-cluttering a house, have 3 boxes with you in in each room. 1 for trash, 1 for saved items and 1 for donated items. This helps prevent people from moving 1 stack to another and keeps the perspective on the task at hand. Remember to keep track of the items you are donating. This can be a pretty sizable tax write off for the following year’s taxes.

Learn more about Houston Maid in the Shade, and schedule your cleaning service today! Visit our website at www.maidhouston.com or call 713-665-6243.